Pipe-tongs



(No Model.)

My COOPER.

PIPE TONGS.

Patented June 24, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT Urrice.

MILES COOPER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PlPE-TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,768, dated June 24,1890- Application filed November 21, 1889. Serial No. 331,145. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, MILES COOPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Pipe-Tongs, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of pipe-tongs inwhich one pair of tongs is adapted to operate upon several sizes of pipeor other similar cylindrically-shaped bodies.

My obj cct is to so construct a pair of pipetongs that it will instantlyand firmly seize any size of pipe in its jaws within the limit of itscapacity and do this duty automatically, thereby saving the time andlabor of making a positive change in the relation of the aws every timea different-sized pipe is to be operated upon. I attain these objects bythe mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a side view of the tongs with the jaws open ready to receive apipe. Fig. 2 is a view of the different parts of the tongs to showconstruction. Fig. 3 shows position of parts when grasping a small pieceof pipe, and Fig. 4t shows position of parts when grasping a large pieceof pipe. Fig. 5 shows construction of the stationary jaw.

Similar letters refer to like parts in all the drawings.

The top of the lover or handle A forms the stationary jaw B, which isprovided on its face with an auxiliary in the part a, which is clearlyshown in Fig. 5. This part a is made of a good quality of steel, and isprovided with teeth on its face, which contact with the pipe to beturned instead of the face of the stationary jaw. By continued use theseteeth become dull and need repairing. To accomplish this with the veryleast amount of expense and labor, the part a is set in a mortise in theface of the stationary jaw and is hinged by means of a tapered pin,which can be quickly knocked out to release it. The part a is shorterthan the mortise in which it is hinged, and can thus have a vibratingmotion of about one-eighth of an inch on the pin Z), so that inreleasing its hold upon a pipe it can easily move backward slightly andprevent any injury to its teeth, which would be certain to occur if itwere firmly secured to the stationary jaw.

The movable jaw C is in general conformity similar to the shape shown inthe draw ings, being made with ribs upon the side of greatest strain.The jaw C is slotted out at its lower end and straddles the jaw B whenplaced in position on the handle A. It is hinged to handle A by means ofa riveted pin 0, which passes through the hole (Z in its lower end andthrough the hole 6 in the handle A. The movable jaw O at the lower endhas a segment of cogs that circlearound the hole (I, Fig. 2. There is alever D, which is hinged to the handle A at f by means of a round rivet1'. segment of cogs g at its top end, and has a slotted hole at thepoint f, which slot is not less than four times as long as the diameterof the rivet i. The rivet i occupies one end of the slot and a smallstifli spiral spring the other end. The spiral spring is shown at h, andone of its ends bears against the rivet i and the other against the endof the slot of leverD. The rivet t' has a long head, as is shown in thetwo views in Fig. 2, this head being of sufficient length, each side ofthe rivet to entirely cover the slot in the lever D and both conceal thespring and prevent the entrance of dirt to impede its proper action.

The operation of this tool is very simple. Referring to Fig. 1, it willbe noticed that the movable jaw C is partly open to receive a pipe. Ifthe operator desires to open the jaws wider than the amount shown, itcan be done by pulling the lower end of the handle A and lower end oflever D apart at the point E, when the two jaws and the relativeposition of A and D will be as is shown in Fig. l, where the maximumsize of pipe can be taken in. If now it is desired to seize a very smallpipe, the movable jaw is swung into proper position by grasping thelower ends of the handles at the point E and closing them together, asshown in Fig. 3. The lever D being hinged at f, its top at 9 alwaysmoves in an opposite direction to its handle at E. The cogs at g, beingengaged, cause the movement of the top end of lever D to betransmittedto the movable jaw C and swing it to the closed This lever is providedwith a or any desired open position simply by the movement of the leverD. The spiral spring h is placed in the slot of lever D for the purposeof preventing any undue strain upon lever D when the tongs areused uponlarge plpe.

It Will be seen in Fig. 4 the lever D at the point E stands to the rightof the handle of the main lever A. In the operation of turning the largepipe F the handles would be grasped at E and pulled from right to left.In this instance the Whole pressure of the hands would bear upon thehandle of lever D. The lever D is intended only for the purpose ofclosing the movable jaw O, and is made light, so as not to undulyincrease the Weight of the tool. On this account it would easily bend orbreak under a heavy strain. To avoid this and at the same time notincrease the Weight of lever D, the slot at the pointfis provided withthe spring h, which permitsa change of center sidewise of the lever D atf, and thus the handle at E Will move to the left under the straincompressing the spring and permit the Whole pressure of the hands inpulling-to bear directly upon the handle of the main lever A.

WVhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a pipe-tongs having a handle A, pivotbolt 2', and pivoted jaw O, thecombination of a lever D to operate said jaw 0, having a transverse slotf, and a spring h in said slot, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

MILES COOPER.

WVitnesses:

J UDSON F. YOUNG, ARTHUR S. WELoH.

